Notebook Spell
by ANBUFury
Summary: "Write the name of the person dearest to you over and over, until you can go on or get caught. If your the person that's written the most by midnight tonight the person will fall in love with you." Never in her life had Rukia ever considered doing this.


Flashlight in hand and notebook on one knee, Rukia Kuchiki swatted at the sleeve hanging down in front of her face. She elbowed the wall instead, sending a strangely humorous tingle up her arm. "Ouch..." She hissed lightly after a moment of silence to make sure no one else in the house stirred from her outburst. Shifting she tried to get into a comfortable position for writing as she settled down with the note book across her lap.

* * *

><p>There was a light chill in the early, February morning air as Rukia walked alone. She paused, turning back at the feeling of spiritual pressure bursting like a firework behind her. The adopted Kuchiki bit at her lower lip. "If you come with it'll be too suspicious for the both of us to get to class late at the same time," Rukia wanted to protest, but it was a hopeless battle and Ichigo was out the window and heading towards the Hollow.<p>

"Kuchiki-san." She turned to see Mizuiro and Keigo, the first greeting her with a polite smile and wave.

"Oh, good morning Kojima-san, Asano-san," she smiled and waved back. The small trio began walking together, Chad soon joined the group and gave a silent nod to the three of them in response to their greetings. "Oh, Ichigo is going to be along shortly, he's just held up with something at home," she explained.

"So, tomorrow is Valentine's Day," Keigo's voice was sly and a lecherous grin (along with eye brow wiggle) added to his dirty playboy look, "I bet I'll get the most chocolates."

"You know, you say that every year, yet I never see you get anything. . . at all." Mizuiro hadn't even bothered looking up from his cell phone. Rukia and Chad both held back their laughter.

"What! How can you say that to me! Mizuiro, you're heartless."

They all parted ways once they made it the locker bay to change out of their shoes. "Hey," Rukia only glanced over to see two other girls chatting, "Who are you gonna give chocolates to this year?"

"Like I would ever tell you,"the response came from a shorter girl who quickly slammed her locker shut and began walking away.

"What is your deal? All I did was ask who you were gonna give candy to."

"Yeah and last year you tried taking Tanaka-kun away from me," claimed the other small girl.

"Oh please, I can't help it if he returned my gifts for white day while you got nothing, I know! Why don't you shoot lower this year and try Asano-san?" the snotty girl laughed while walking by.

"Well this year the person I like is going to fall for me. I've been writing Ku- someone's name down for the past week, come midnight he's definitely gonna fall for me."

"If you think that note book spell is going to work, you really have lost it." The first bell rang and Rukia cursed herself for not turning away and getting to class sooner.

Before entering the class, she looked down and saw that there was a message saying the Hollow was eliminated. Rukia sighed with relief and walked in to take her place at her own desk.

"Rukia?" She turned to see Orihime looking over with pleading eyes. "Where's Kurosaki-kun?"

Rukia looked around before whispering that there was a Hollow in the area this morning, and he was off taking care of it. The amber-haired girl seemed satisfied with this answer and nodded.

"Okay you guys, time to start!" shouted the teacher over the multiple voices of her students.

Class went on for a good thirty minutes before Ichigo burst in through the door, panting as if he'd been running for his very life. "S-Sorry I'm late. My dad needed help at the clinic." The few people that had jumped out of their skin at the slamming of the door slowly sat back down in their chairs. Ichigo entered and gave Rukia a small thumbs-up letting her know that everything was okay. At least, it seemed to be okay until she noticed the fresh bandage on his forearm.

Guilt hit her like a speeding bullet. I should have gone with him. She ripped her eyes away and looked down at the wood of her desk, It could have been so much worse. If I was there, then it maybe he wouldn't have gotten hurt at all. She couldn't understand why, but lately Rukia found herself becoming more concerned for Ichigo's safety and more enraged with him when he'd run into battle recklessly.

"Rukia!'"

Rukia turned in time to bring Sode No Shirayuki in front of the vicious claws of the Hollow. She was thrown back, but managed to keep her footing. The snowy white blade was now stained with crimson blood. Ichigo joined her side. "You okay?" he asked.

Rukia nodded quickly, "Okay you take the right hand side. I'll go left. I'll use the second dance to trap it. . .Ichigo?" She looked over and saw that the bull headed substitute shinigami had already charged right into the fight without thinking. Rukia sighed and muttered about his foolishness as he finished it off within a few more blows. Ichigo pulled Zangetsu to his back and smirked back at her with his usual cocky expression that he'd always had a habit of wearing after winning a battle. "You're so reckless," Rukia scolded.

"Hey while you were coming up with a plan I took care of the Hollow! I did what we are supposed to."

"Well sometimes you need a plan. You can't just jump into the fight so bone-headedly!" Rukia stomped her foot and flicked the blood off her white bladed Zanpakuto. How could he not think seriously about the battles they would engage in?

"Whatever, pipsqueak," Ichigo teased, crossing his arms.

Rukia threw the now sealed blade into its scabbard and stomped, "Pardon me!"

"What can't ya hear me from all the way up here?" He had to fight back laughter as Rukia's nose twitched, slightly annoyed. He counted in his head and right when he reached one, she lashed out throwing a punch he avoided by stepping to the side. "Gotta do better than that!" From there, the two of them broke out into a race across Kurakura town and back to the Kurosaki family clinic.

Rukia smiled, thinking back on the memory as a light trace of blush crossed over her face. Maybe she hadn't realized just how close she'd grown to Ichigo. Even though he'd always mentioned that it was her who changed his life, she felt as if maybe it was more the other way around. There was never a moment that passed where she wasn't thinking about him. Granted, sometimes the thoughts were vile and she was angry, but she'd always find herself slowly smiling and realizing she'd forgive him for anything.

Class went on undisturbed from there. Rukia still felt the need to be beating herself up for not going along, despite the protests from Ichigo. Yet she knew that he was right, one of them needed to make it to class on time. Not only to keep people from suspecting them to be together, but also that someone would need to take notes for the other and they both knew Rukia was better at taking down notes and keeping her cool during a Hollow attack. Ichigo would have been squirming in his seat, unable to focus at all on the board in front of him.

When the lunch bell rang, a roar of conversation overcame the room. Desks squealed as they were pushed together to form the cliques of people, while the door opened and closed, other people joined the room while others (this included Keigo, Mizuiro, and Chad) left. Ichigo had begun walking out the door with his friends, but the teacher stopped him and pulled him out into the hallway while Rukia walked over to the small group around Orihime.

"Rukia, are you going to join us for lunch today?" Orihime chirped, pulling out some strange meal.

"N-No, sorry. I just had a question for you Inoue-san."

"Hm?" Tatsuki was looking up at Rukia also. "Yeah sure what is it?" Orihime asked, pulling out a banana as well as what Rukia could have sworn to be a bottle of mustard.

"I was wondering, have you heard of the notebook spell?"

"Notebook spell!" Orihime jumped as sudden hands found themselves on either side of her large, shapely breasts. "I know all about the notebook spell and even have Orihime's beautiful name filling up two whole books. I'm working on a third one right now." Chizuru's hands squeezed and pressed the large breasts together until she was thrown off of her so-called dream girl.

"Get your hands off of her ya freak!" Chizuru was gone just as suddenly as she appeared, only to return a moment later. This time she was smarter and tip-toed around to another side of Orihime, further away from the princess's protector. "The notebook spell. Why are you curious about that?" Tatsuki seemed to take note of how out of place it was that Rukia was questioning this.

"I-I just heard about it from a group of girls this morning and didn't fully understand it."

"Oh," Orihime nodded, "It's simple, really. You take a notebook and start to write the name of the person that matters the most to you. You write their name over and over again until you can't go any longer or get caught. You need to write more than anyone else, and if you do at the stroke of midnight tonight, that person will fall in love with you."

"Yeah, I still don't get why you wrote Ichigo's name of all people." Rukia felt her heart snap just a hair, "I mean you could get any one."

"Tatsuki!" Orihime squeaked her face turning bright red as she covered up her cheeks. Chizuru made an off- handed comment about how adorable her Orihime was. Rukia honestly could feel something of a sickness working into her body. Muscles ached, bones and joints stiffened, and her skin became clammy. She didn't want to be in that body any more. "Rukia? Are you okay?"

"Yeah, I'm just hungry." Rukia turned and quickly ran out of the room, passing Ichigo and their teacher.

"R-Rukia! Uh, sorry Sensei. I won't be late again. Ya know, whatever ya need to hear. Rukia!" Ichigo turned and chased her down the hall. "Rukia, stop dammit." The small girl did and Ichigo nearly crushed her. She turned and he watched her pant lightly, small huffs of breath coming from her reddened cheeks.

"I-Ichigo." She looked away from him, she shouldn't have stopped, she hated seeing that concerned look in his eyes, even more so when it was directed at her. Right now he was the last person that she needed to have looking down at her affectionately.

"What's the matter?" he asked, pushing one pesky strand of hair back into the strand that was left purposely in the center of her face. The act meant nothing to him, but everything to her. She stepped back slightly.

Thinking on her feet, Rukia came up with a quick way to side step around her breaking heart. "I-I was just getting hungry and figured you were too, so I ran back so you'd have an easy out from the teacher." It was a lie, clear as day. The both of them knew it, but Ichigo chose not to pry and nodded.

"Thanks." From there, they quickly joined their friends up on the roof, eating quickly for the remainder of the lunch period while Keigo pestered Ichigo.

"Listen," Ichigo crushed the plastic water bottle once he'd finished it, "I don't care about the holiday. I don't care if I get anything, and if it's from someone I don't know or care for, I will politely turn them down instead of getting their hopes up for White day."

Rukia listened in, curious if he would mention anyone he would like to get something from. "What about Inoue-san? If she gave you something would you keep it or give it back?"

"Ugh! Forget it!" Ichigo stood and stomped off, figuring he'd rather go hungry than continue to listen to Keigo's annoying banter. Rukia questioned if his frustration was because he liked her, or if it was because he was sick of his friends teasing and pestering.

* * *

><p>"See you guys tomorrow," Ichigo shouted back, he turned to see Rukia walking ahead, he jogged to make his way up to her. "Hey, what's with you today?"<p>

"It's nothing, I just don't feel much like myself is all." Rukia kept turning her head to avoid Ichigo being able to look at her.

"Rukia-"

"Don't worry about it. I'm fine," she said, hoping that she wasn't giving away the fact that, on the way home she'd been weighing all the differences between herself and Orihime.

Orihime was beautiful, almost flawless. Rukia would never say she was pretty or cute. Orihime was Human, a tangible part of Ichigo's world that he belonged in. Rukia was a Soul Reaper. Falling for a human was just asking for trouble. Orihime has known Ichigo longer, while Rukia still didn't know much about him, or at least she felt like she didn't. The adopted noble felt the annoying sting of tears in her eyes. Luckily for her the Soul Pager went off.

It was a Hollow. "Where is it?" Ichigo leaned over her shoulder a bit to read the message. Both Rukia and Ichigo felt a sudden burst of spiritual pressure as the Hollow appeared only a

few blocks over. A small blue pill popped into Rukia's mouth and her spirit left the gigai quickly and effortlessly.

"Come on." Rukia shouted back while Ichigo hit himself with his substitute soul reaper badge, ignoring his body falling backwards. The soul inhabiting Rukia's gigai caught the large falling body, setting it down tenderly and then propping it up against a fence.

As they got closer, the Hollow flung its large tail down in-between them, separating them and forcing either of them up to higher ground. The white wrappings of Zangetsu tore free and he took the first go, blade aiming for the mask. Rukia had jumped down closer to its legs cutting at the back of the knees with Sode No Shirayuki. A loud scream let her and Ichigo know its attention was turning back to Rukia. It reached out to grab at her, but she managed a flash step to avoid its large hand.

It cried out again when Ichigo sliced into its neck. Wildly, it swung, knocking Ichigo into a backwards roll for a while, stopping when he could manage a sturdy grip on the reishi that floated about in the air. Below, he could see Rukia running around to the front of the beast. All the while, her lips moving while she chanted the incantation for a Kido spell.

"Hado, thirty-one! Shakkaho!" Rukia roared as the large ball of red spun towards the Hollow and successfully hitting the mask while weakening the surface. "Dammit." She dodged its tail, but not the large claws that swatted her like a fly into Ichigo who'd seen the Hollow's arm reaching for her.

Hugging her to his chest, Ichigo escaped to a safe area. Rukia blushed, feeling the warmth of Ichigo's own body. His heartbeat echoed in her ears, almost like a lullaby. She found her footing on reishi and looked up to Ichigo the same way she'd always looked up to Kaien Shiba.

A part of her questioned if she'd been able to fill the place of Miyako, like she'd always hoped that she one day could. "Th-thank you Ichigo," she whispered, watching him go back to finish the battle, but he stopped and looked back over to her smirking.

"Not a problem, just don't go dying on me," he shouted back at her.

Rukia stood, stunned. Those were the last words Kaien had gotten to say to Miyako, before she was taken by Metastacia. Metastacia was the same Hollow that took Kaien's life only a night later. Maybe there was a shred of hope left for her to be with Ichigo.

* * *

><p>Rukia was still nursing the odd tingle in her left elbow as she continued to work on writing Ichigo's name over and over again. She felt so strange doing something so childish, but at the same time, she kept opening the door just enough to peek out and see the minutes slowly<p>

creep by to midnight, and then to look back and check her progress. A cramp had begun to settle into her fingers.

She hadn't realized it, but slowly Rukia stopped writing just Ichigo's name. She'd started to write her own next to his and a little heart in between them. Then pictures of Ichigo and herself as bunny-rabbits appeared in the corners. The word heart, kiss, love, and other things of mush began to appear.

Rukia leaned out once again, only this time something made her jump. "Rukia? What are you doing up still? It's almost midnight." She turned to see Ichigo standing and looking down at her, a scowling expression on his face.

"I-I..." She looked down to her lap, and put her hands over the notebook. Ichigo knelt down and pushed the door open more. "Ichigo, What are you doing!" The Substitute grabbed the notebook out of her hands and flipped through some pages, all the while Rukia could feel her face redden more and more.

"I wasn't expecting you to get roped up in this, too," he smirked.

"Ichigo. I-"

"I know Orihime was writing my name, Tatsuki brought it up the other day," he started. "Listen, Rukia." Violet eyes looked up at him. "I love Orihime. . ." The adopted noble could feel the tears burst into her eyes without any warning, and she could feel them slid down her cheeks. This felt like the worst kind of betrayal she'd ever known, ". . .as a sister." The last three words made her world yet again become clear.

"What?"

"Tatsuki asked me if I'd ever go out with Orihime, and I told her exactly that. I love her, but no further than a close friend that I owe a lot to for helping rescue you and for saving my life." Rukia felt butterflies shift in her stomach, why was he telling her all of this? "Then she asked me about you, if I'd. . .if I'd ever wanna be with you." If Rukia didn't feel like her face was burning before, it was most certainly on fire now. "I said that, if I could, I would be, but I don't think it would ever happen."

"Why would you say that?" Rukia asked after a small pause.

"You're a noble, a shinigami noble." Ichigo sighed, shifting and resting his back on the open door frame. "I- I guess I always thought you had some kind of arranged marriage lined up."

"What!" Rukia began to laugh, letting out all of the tension that her body managed to coil up in her chest, "Ichigo, I'm adopted! There is no other noble family in the Soul Society that would want me, the other noble families see me as nothing more then a Rukongai Brat." Her

laughter was music to Ichigo's ears. "Anyway, it's not like the family is worried about heirs, especially with Nii-Sama and Renji's love affair."

Ichigo blinked a few times, before what she'd said settled in. First off Byakuya and Renji? They were really a couple? That wasn't just a rumor going around the SWA? Secondly, Rukia wasn't in an arranged marriage. "S-So then if you're not in an arranged marriage, then that means . . ."

Rukia took his hand and smiled lightly up to him, "Yes, Ichigo." He didn't even have to ask. Rukia slid out from her closet, and Ichigo's hand came up to the side of her face pulling her in for a light, soft, and long overdue kiss.

The bright red numbers on Ichigo's alarm clock turned over to read 12:00 am.

* * *

><p>The next morning was just as hectic as the previous day. Only this time, Orihime sat perched in her desk bouncing nervously. There was no Rukia to clam her worry about Ichigo.<p>

There was no Ichigo to tell her where Rukia was. Not to mention, there was no Ichigo to give the small package of chocolates she was hiding under her desk. A hand landed on her shoulder, "Oh, Tatsuki . . ." Her gray eyes must have been filled with disappointment as the door opened, Rukia and Ichigo stood hand in hand panting lightly.

"Sorry we're late," they both said to the teacher, as well as the rest of the class staring at them and their absent mindlessly entwined hands.

"You gonna be okay?" Tatsuki whispered, from behind Orihime.

"Yeah, I will be."

Ichigo and Rukia looked to one another, then down to their hands and dropped them quickly, both trying to find some other nonchalant motion to be doing with the appendage.

_Happy Valentines Day!_

_Happy Red Day!_

_Happy Being Single Sucks Day!_

_Whatever you're celebrating today I hope it's awesome._

_3_

_This story is dedicated in loving memory to my dear friend Elizabeth. _

_I do not own Bleach I'm just a fangirl with a lot of time on her hands.  
><em>


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